Forward Progress

Ok, I'm calling it. Today we officially had forward motion. Grace can crawl.

She isn't quite up to chasing the dog around yet, but I saw her put one hand in front of the other and make two "steps" forward before falling back down to her belly.

This week she has also learned how to get from her belly or hands and knees, back to a sitting position. This is helping her move around. She will move towards something then back into a sitting position and lunge forward in a different direction.

I have a feeling she could be scooting all over the place by the end of the weekend. She is also trying to pull herself to standing. She has been grabbing the edge of the coffee table and trying to pull up. Yesterday she made it to her knees. Tonight she was playing on the floor and Eric and I weren't paying attention to what she was doing. All of the sudden we heard the music from her Jumperoo and we looked over and she had crawled over to it and grabbed ahold of it and was trying to get the toys attached to it. Then tonight while I was running her bath water, I left her on the floor in her room. I can see into her room from the bathroom, so I looked back and couldn't see her. I went to see where she had gone, and she had crawled over to her dresser and had pulled herself to her knees.

We have lowered her crib mattress, so I think we're ok there, but I really need to do the babyproofing. We have already covered the outlets, but we need to do the cabinets and just look around for any other issues. Tonight she scooted over to the wall by the door in the entry way and was playing with the door stop. She pulled the plastic cap off of the spring. I was watching her and took it away before she put it in her mouth, but I have a feeling we are going to have our hands full. Makes me glad I'm taking an Infant/Child CPR class tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I added some pictures to my Flickr account. A couple random ones plus pictures from her first baby-pool experience last weekend. I have a couple more to add, but I had some camera/computer issues tonight and didn't feel like messing with it anymore tonight.

Exam

Just thought I should provide an update about a female issue I've been having.

I'm not really sure when I first noticed it, but probably at least a month ago. Anyway, I noticed a lump on my right breast. After a little while, I decided to mention it to Eric and he suggested that I call the doctor immediately. I have decided to switch OBs, so I called the new doctor. I haven't been there yet, but I have my annual exam scheduled for September 12. I called them and they told me the best time to do an exam is after my period and asked where I was in my cycle. I was about 4 days post ovulation, so they told me to wait until after my period and call back if it was still there. I then called my old doctor (who I haven't informed I'm switching yet) and they told me the same thing.

So, I waited. My period ended on Monday and when I was back in town on Wednesday, I called the doctor back and informed them it was still there. They scheduled me for a breast exam this afternoon.

I saw a Nurse Practioner and think I will like this new doctor's office. Since I was due for a PAP, they went ahead and did it today, so I can cancel my other appointment. When she did the exam, she agreed, that I do indeed have a lump. She was very low key and didn't want to get me worked up, but my impression was that it was fairly sizable. She wrote me an order to have an ultrasound on my breast to determine what the lump is made of. She said that I will get the radiological results the same day, but then they will call me to discuss. However, she thinks I will need to see a breast surgeon. She said even if the results of the ultrasound come back fine, if the lump is over a certain size, they like to have it looked at. Since we could both feel mine, she's pretty sure they will refer me on after they get the results of the ultrasound.

She did a good job at downplaying the possibility of cancer. Most lumps are not cancerous and considering my age and no family history of breast cancer, it is very unlikely that this is going to be something serious, but they do want to make sure they check it out. The surgeon will either decide to just keep an eye on it, drain it (if it is a cyst), or do a biopsy.

I called for my ultrasound appointment and am scheduled for Thursday afternoon next week. I'm hoping the results will be good, but it seems like there's a good possibility that I will need to at least see a surgeon to see what they want to do.

I'm not really worked up about this. I think Eric is more worried than I am, but I wouldn't mind if you readers kept me in your prayers. I'll keep you updated.

8 Months

Grace turned 8 months old on Friday. She's such a big girl now. I absolutely love this age. She's so social and happy. She is easy to get a smile or giggle out of and everyone who comes in contact with her mentions either her cuteness or how good she is. I would think I'm biased, but I seriously get comments from perfect strangers all the time, so she must actually be really cute.

Anyway, despite what I've been saying for weeks, Grace is still not crawling. I would say she definately will be by 9 months...but, I don't want to jinx us. She gets on her hands and knees often and rocks back in forth, but she hasn't made real forward progress. I would consider her mobile. She can get into about anything and is all over the room. She is becoming increasingly vocal. She loves to say "ma-ma", but says it all the time, so I don't think she's calling for me. She likes the sound of her own voice and uses it often and loudly. One of her new favorite times to chat is 5:00 a.m. She usually goes back to sleep until a reasonable time afterwords. She likes to stand up all the time and likes to bang on everything. Anything to make noise.

Our biggest milestone this month is a new tooth! This is very recent. I was out of town on Thursday and Friday, but Eric pointed it out to me on Saturday. You couldn't see it, but when you feel her gum it's very sharp. Today, you can see the tip of it poking out. It's broken the skin, but not all the way above the gum yet. She keeps sticking her tounge out to feel it.

Here's the milestones we've reached for 8 Months based on "What To Expect The First Year." The bold items we have reached.

By the end of the Eighth Month your baby:

...should be able to:
- bear some weight on legs when held upright
- Feed self a cracker
- Pass a cube or object from one hand to the other
- rake a raisin and pick it up in a fist
- Turn in the direction of a voice
- Look for a dropped object

...will probably be able to:
- stand holding on to someone or something
- Object if you try to take a toy away
- Work to get a toy out of reach
- play peekaboo (So cute! She even initiates the game now.)
- get into a sitting position from stomach

...may possibly be able to:
- pull up to standing position from sitting
- Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
- say mama or dada indescriminately

...may even be able to:
- Play Patty-Cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye
- walk holding on to furniture
- stand alone momentarily
- understand the word no (but not always obey it)

Very Very Busy

I'm sorry I've been MIA for so long, but things have been crazy. Grace is currently playing on the floor next to the computer and I don't know how long that will last, so I've got to be quick.

Last weekend I was running non-stop. Well, Friday night Eric and I rented a couple of movies and sat around eating pizza, but still. Saturday I spent all afternoon shopping/visiting with Samara. Grace and I got home in time for dinner and her bedtime ritual and then after bed, I went to the grocery store. Sunday we went to the 10:00 church service, grabbed some lunch, and headed to our softball tournament. We ended up winning 2nd place overall, but that meant games at 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Immediately after the last game, I headed straight back to church for Vacation Bible School from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. I worked in crafts.

Bible school ran Sunday through Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30. So my evenings have been busy. Monday night I got a call from an old friend from high school that happened to be in Dayton with her hubby and kids. She asked if we could get together for dinner on Tuesday. I cancelled at VBS, since I've only seen her once since my wedding 4 years ago and they drove over and we had dinner at Champps on Tuesday night. Despite being an hour and a half overdue for bedtime Grace was well-behaved and we had a good time. Wednesday, I was really busy trying to finish up things at work because I have 2 trips planned and won't be in the office until Wednesday next week. I stayed at the office until 6:10 and then went straight to VBS. I got home and packed for my trip. Thursday I flew to Chicago for some training for a new job responsibility I've been given. Thursday night I had dinner and got to hang out with Danialle. Friday the training lasted until 4:30 p.m. then I headed back to the airport for my 7p.m (central) flight. I got home from the airport around 10 p.m.

Today I'm just hanging out at home and trying to get some domestic duties done. I am working on sending out Grace's 6 month pictures (yes, I realize she's 8 months now) and I need to make the grocery list, etc. I also didn't have access to my e-mail at the hotel, so I need to check in for work.

Monday I go back to Chicago for a different meeting and will get in late on Tuesda. After that, things should slow back down. So, see I have been busy, not just lazy.

Grace is getting antsy, so I'm going to go play with her. Later I'll come back and do her 8 month update. Wow, where does the time go.

Another Week

Nothing much going on here, but I thought I should write something. We just had a nice relaxing, nothing planned kind of weekend. Well, originally we had things planned, but they were out of town things, and Eric always works the last weekend of the month, so we stayed put. Originally, I was supposed to go to a High School friend's baby shower back in Indiana on Saturday, and then my cousin got married on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately with Eric's work schedule, he couldn't have left until Saturday afternoon, which would have killed the shower idea. I didn't want to drive that far with Grace by myself. And then the wedding was at 4 p.m. on Sunday, so we probably would have had take today off work. Nothing seemed to work out, so we didn't do anything.

Saturday I got lucky and Grace slept until 8:30 a.m. Eric was already at work before we got up. Didn't do much around home, just some laundry, ran the vacuum, and then did some shopping errands. Saturday evening, our neighbors came over and we grilled steaks out and played some games. We always take turns dog-sitting when we go out of town, but we haven't really done anything social in a long time. It was nice to spend time without asking for a favor.

Sunday we had church and then a 2:00 p.m. softball game. After the game we just hung out at home and relaxed. It was actually very, very nice.

This week my company bought us tickets for a family night at the Minor Leauge baseball game. We'll go and hang out with others from work. Friday, I have "summer hours" so I'll get to leave at noon. Not really anything else planned.

Next week will be very busy. Sunday is our softball tournament and then VBS starts Sunday evening through Thursday evening. This year I'm doing crafts. I have to miss the last night for a work meeting in Chicago that will be Thursday and Friday. I'll catch dinner with Danialle on Thursday though. Then on Monday I'll head back to Chicago for a baseball game in the evening and a different meeting on Tuesday.

Can't think of much more to talk about. I did download some of our Chicago pics in Flickr. I'm also planning on eventually organizing my pictures into Albums and also trying to figure out how to get the video I took of Grace playing online. I don't think I can host it on Flickr and I'm not sure how much space it will take on Ripway. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

Pictures

I found some pictures I could post. This is one of Grace's 6 Month pictures taken by JC Penney's. More of my favorites are at Flickr.

Still Here

People have been getting on me about my lack of updates. I'm still around, just been busy (or not really feeling like being on the computer).

My vacation went very well last week. I got most things done that I planned on (except babyproofing!). Our trip to Chicago was also very nice, although the mood wasn't quite as planned. We almost cancelled our trip because Danialle was going to be gone most of the weekend for the funeral, and it didn't feel right to just go ahead and have "fun." We ended up deciding to just go ahead and go, and Danialle let us use their apartment while they were out of town.

I would love to post some pictures of our vacation. In Chicago, Grace took her first ride on the "El." We went to the acquarium, saw Wrigley field, and had lunch at ESPN Zone. However, our camera is currently saying that our memory card is corrupted, so we may have lost all of those pictures.

Things are a little busy at work, as they usually are after getting back from vacation. To top it off, for some reason my e-mail at work is malfunctioning. I am receiving messages, but nothing I send is getting there. This has been going on since very late afternoon on Tuesday. I'm hoping it will be fixed by the time I get in in the morning.

Things are good at home. Grace had some new firsts. I gave her apple juice for the first time. She really liked it and I just screwed a bottle cap with a fast flow nipple on a baby-size serving of juice and she drank it herself! I was very proud of her, because she's used to having us squeeze her bottles, so the fact that she drank it without help is a plus! I also gave her a "Biter Biscuit" and she loved it. It is very messy though, so she can only have it when she's wearing only a diaper. She also has a new thing where she goes cross-eyed when you are feeding her. I think she tries to follow the spoon into her mouth. It is really freaky looking.

Can't think of much more to say. I'll try to come up with some good posts in the near future. Feel free to leave a comment about what you'd like to hear about.

Bad Stuff

Please keep my friend Erica in your thoughts and prayers today. Her brother was involved in a car accident last night and has passed away today. This is just one more bad thing that she didn't need right now. Please keep her in your prayers that she will get throught this ok and not have to deal with any more negativity (for at least a while).

Vacation!

This week I'm on vacation and so excited about it. Here's what I have planned:

Monday (today) - Eric went to work and took Grace to day-care. I went back to sleep until 9:45 a.m. and then cleaned house all day. Eric came home (sans Grace) around 1:00 p.m. and mowed the yard, took Zeus to get his nails trimmed. and then went to get his hair cut before picking up Grace. I gave Zeus a bath and then I went to Target and then came home and took Grace for a walk before our nightly routine. I also managed to make a healthy dinner and work out this evening. After posting I'm going to start on my bible study! Also planning on revising the budget tonight.

Tuesday - When we all get up, we're taking Grace to day-care and Eric and I are having a date-day! We are planning on playing Putt-Putt, going to a movie and having a quiet lunch. Yeah!

Wednesday - We're going to keep Grace home. I'm planning on scheduling a massage for the AM and then maybe meeting up for some shopping (not planning on buying) to get us out of the house and let Eric relax a bit. Also need to do laundry.

Other items to work on in the early part of the week include finishing writing all information in the photo albums (dates, names, etc.)and baby proofing the drawers and cabinets.

Thursday - Pack in the morning for our trip to Chicago! I've been starting lists in my head, but will probably do all the packing on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Our flight leaves at 4-ish (I'll check on that before we go).

Friday - Still need to discuss plans with Danialle, but I'm thinking we'll go the Acquarium and do some sightseeing. Maybe a casual dinner out (with healthy choices of course!)

Saturday - Beach in the AM and some Magnificiant Mile shopping/browsing in the afternoon. Dinner out (our treat to our hosts).

Sunday - Return trip back home.

I already know this week will be too short. Good news so far is that my house is clean and I can relax.

Oh, and if you are wondering why I'm still taking Grace... We have to pay the daycare whether she's there or not, so if I have things I need to get done, I take advantage of the babysitting service we already are paying for. That's why tomorrow we're doing a day-time date! We've already paid for the childcare.

Speaking of childcare, we had an "incident" today. Grace was playing with a toy and Alex (he's about a year old) wanted her toy. She wouldn't give it to him, so he bit her and took it away. Poor thing. She has a little bite mark on her arm where he bit her. It didn't break the skin, so I'm not too concerned. I'm trying to be reasonable, as in the future, it could be Grace doing the biting!

Seven Months

Grace turned seven months old yesterday. She's really becoming quite a little person. She is starting to fuss a bit more, but I think it's because she now knows when she wants something and gets frustrated when she doesn't get her way. We may have to start using the word "no" soon.

We've moved up to Stage 2 foods this month and most of the time Grace will still finish her jars. She's really enjoying the new "dinners" she does very well on the ones with meat in them.

Last month I predicted we'd be crawling by this month. Not quite yet. She's definately getting closer. July 1st I noticed her move backwards for the first time. She trys to get around, but when she pushes off with her arms she goes backwards and then gets mad because she's farther away than she wanted. She can get her butt off the ground, but usually while her chest is on the ground. Several times I've seen her get her knees under her and get her belly off the ground, but only for a few seconds at a time. She can turn a complete circle on her belly and will pivot to a new direction if something catches her interest.

She really likes to stand too. If you hold her hands while she's sitting, she can pull herself to a standing position. She hasn't figured out how to use furniture yet, but once she does, she'll have the strength to pull herself up.

She still loves when you play peekaboo with her, although she doesn't really play along herself. She likes playing with all kinds of toys, especially ones she can bang on things or shake. She has very good hand/eye coordination and can pick up almost anything (and put it directly into her mouth). She especially loves non-toy items (remote control, keys, water bottles, etc.)

Here's the milestones we've reached for 7 Months based on "What To Expect The First Year." The bold items we have reached.

By the end of the Seventh Month your baby:
...should be able to:
- sit without support
- Feed self a cracker (we've never given her a cracker to try, but everything else she picks up goes in her mouth)
- razz (make a wet razzing sound) - Not sure why she's not interested in this one.

...will probably be able to:
- bear some weight on legs when held upright
- Object if you try to take a toy away (there is much crying and anger involved)
- Work to get a toy out of reach
- Pass a cube or object from one hand to the other
- Look for a dropped object
- rake a raisin and pick it up in a fist(never tried a raisin, but she'll pick up a bottle cap from a bottle of water)
- Turn in the direction of a voice
- Babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da
- play peekaboo

...may possibly be able to:
- stand holding on to someone or something

...may even be able to:
- pull up to standing position from sitting
- get into a sitting position from stomach
- Play Patty-Cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye
- Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
- walk holding on to furniture (cruise)
- say mama or dada indescriminately

Getting Things In Order

I'm feeling the need to post alot today, but this one's be rattling around in my head for a while, so I needed to get it down.

It seems like for a while now, I've been just going through the motions. To be honest, I think it was a matter of survival. The whole parenthood thing is overwhelming and scary and all consuming, but there are parts of my life I would like to get control over again. This is going to be a sort of mid-year New Year's Resolution. Here's what I want to focus on and my goals.

Spirtuality
There have been times in my life where I've felt very close to God and times where I've felt not so close. Right now I'm kind of somewhere in the middle. I don't feel far from Him, but I know I could be closer. I actually have a desire to do something to strengthen that bond. For about a year now, Eric has been going to a weekly Bible study and he's had some amazing growth. Since I grew up in church and he didn't, I guess I've always sort of thought of myself as spirtually more mature than him, but that isn't the case anymore. It isn't a contest, but I would like to be able to have discussions with him that aren't from my memory of lessons learned years ago, but of things I'm studying now. I want us to be comfortable discussing God and church at home, so Grace will know that Mom and Dad actually believe what they talk about at church. I don't really feel up to a formal study, but I have a book of a 12 week study that I did in college. At the time it was trying to tell me things I didn't want to hear, but I think I'm ready now. I plan on starting on Sunday.

Health
I know I've discussed it before and constantly on my diet blog, but I'm ready to get healthy. Spending time with my Mom a week ago was a real inspiration to me. She's dieted pretty much since I can remember, but the weekend she visited she stuck to it all weekend! That's a difficult task for anyone, but she was excited about it and doing great. I want to do that too. I've done it before so I know it's possible. Read my post here for more details, but my goal is to lose the rest of my baby weight (7 1/2 pounds) in the next 2 months. I'd like to lose about 15 total before I get pregnant again.

I would also like to get in a routine of staying fit and eating right. I didn't do a good job during my pregnancy with Grace, but I'd like to try to be a good habit and really eat well and exercise next time I'm pregnant. Sort of like a practice run. I know I've discussed it with my close friends and family, but I don't think I've mentioned it here. After I have my second child, I would like to be a gestational surrogate. I have done a little research and will have much more to do before the time comes, but I really feel called to help someone else have a child. I loved being pregnant and have no doubts that I could carry a child and hand it over to the parents if I knew it had no genetic ties to me or Eric. I have fears that my one previous miscarriage might be a strike against me, but when the time comes I'll fill out the applications and hopefully someone will feel that I'm the right woman to help her. But, if I do get to follow through, I would like to be in the habit of eating right, exercising, and doing the right things. I can bend the rules with my body and my baby, but would feel guilty being less healthy with someone else's child.

Finances
Having a baby is a drain on the checkbook. Part of our problem is that we keep spending like before, but now have additional expenses. Eric and I have discussed a 5 year plan for our finances. In 5 years we would like to have the following done:
- Pay off credit card (trust me, that's an optimistic goal)
- Have only 1 car payment (pay off my car and keep it and trade his in for an SUV after baby #2)
- Be financially ready (or already have) moved to a larger home in a better school system.

I'm going to revise our budget and starting in August we are going to really try to stick to it. It will require some sacrifices (planned dinners out instead of whenever we feel like it, bringing lunch instead of eating out (could play into that health goal), less frivolous shopping for Grace). Some of the revisions might seem surprising too, for example, increasing our budgeting giving to the church. However, overall if we keep our goals in mind, I think we can do it and it'll be worth it in the end.

Professional Growth
I've been doing pretty good here, but in the short term I need to study for my next CPCU exam. I think I'm scheduled to take it in late September and for once, I would love to be fully prepared before the night before the test. I've got to start studying earlier.

I also have recently been named the Professional Standards Officer for the office. It technically isn't a promotion, just another responsibility. However, I'm pretty sure if I do a good job it will definately be considered when promotions are awarded. I'm in a less busy time at work right now, so I've got some time to really work on it. I've just got to get started before I get super busy again.

So those are my mid-term goals. I'm on vacation next week and in the early part of the week I'm going to try to figure out how to arrange my schedule to fit in planning my meals and diet, weekly monitoring of the budget, daily Bible study, studying for my exam, plus still have time for Grace and Eric. That will be the challenge, but I believe all of these things are good, so I'll be able to work it out.

GWO Recap

This weekend brought another GWO - Girls Weekend Out. As always I adored getting to catch up with my friends, but managed to find myself less relaxed and refreshed than normal. I think it is due entirely to the fact that I brought Grace along and only had an evening without her. While I think everyone enjoyed spending time with the babes, I was still "on duty" all weekend and didn't really get a chance to fully relax and have no worries. That's ok though because in 3 short months we'll be doing it again in Chicago and we've already decided to not bring the babies along.

Thursday I had a horrendous day at work, so luckily I had plenty to keep me busy until time to leave to pick Danialle up at the airport. Her plane got in at 6:30 p.m. and I was still almost late to get there. After I picked her up, we grabbed some McDonald's quickly and then headed to my house to get the rest of the girls. Erica went straight to my house and was playing with Grace and visiting with Eric when we got in. We packed up my stuff and Danialle's bag into Erica's Tahoe and hit the road. We actually had the thing packed! It didn't seem possible it was for only a weekend. I had a suitcase for me, small suitcase for Grace, her stroller, carseat, the Aerobed, a bag with the Aerobed's sheets and blanket, 2 pillows, a bag of Grace's toys (some blocks, floor blankets, and boppy), a bag of diapers and wipes, Grace's diaper bag, a jug of baby water, and a bag with all of Grace's bottles, formula, and baby food. We drove over to Samara's gave Grace a bath and put her to bed, visited a little and then went to bed ourselves.

Friday, we slept in a little (well, not Samara and Ava). I actually had to go wake Grace up at 8:30 a.m. We just hung out for a little while and then decided to go into Columbus for lunch and some shopping. We couldn't get both carseats and strollers into the Tahoe and still seat 4 adults, so Samara drove separately with Ava. She had to go by the hospital to get some breast pump supplies, so she was going to meet us at the restaurant. We ordered and appetizer and waited for a while. While waiting, Grace had lots of fun playing with this balloon.

After a while we decided to order and then Samara called and had had some problems, so she decided to catch up with us while we were shopping. We browsed Filene's Basement for a bit and then headed to Hobby Lobby to look for a craft project for Saturday. Samara met us at Hobby Lobby and we picked out some stepping stone kits. After Hobby Lobby Samara decided to head home for a nap and the rest of us went to the grocery store for supplies for our at home Mexican dinner. We also picked up a wide variety of Celebrity gossip magazines for our entertainment. When we got home we made our own taco bar and some other Mexican side items. We just hung out the rest of the evening catching up on the celebrity news.

Saturday morning we again slept until 8:30 a.m. (thank you Grace!) Once we got up we were very lazy all day. We worked on our stepping stone project. We used Mosiac glass and some letter stencils and mixed and poured the cement. They actually turned out really well and were fun to make. After that we started getting showers and dressed and ready for our evening out. The Dad's arrived for babysitting duty and we left the house around 5:30 p.m. We went to a trendy/modern Italian restaurant downtown. Our reservation was at 7:00, but they got us in right away. The food was very yummy and we tried to take our time. After dinner we weren't ready to go home yet, so we got the idea to go play a game of Putt Putt. However, we decided to stop at BW3s first for one drink. After that it was dark and Samara couldn't remember where the Putt Putt place was, so we decided just to head home. We got home around 10 p.m. and after just a little time to relax we headed for bed.

Sunday morning Grace decided she'd had enough sleeping in and started chatting around 5:00 a.m. She went back to sleep for a little while, but got up again around 6. I brought her into the guest room to lay down with me and she was quite until 6:20 when the alarm went off. We fed Grace, got our stuff together and headed out. I took Danialle to the airport, Erica headed for home, and poor Samara looked like she could use some more sleep. The goal was supposed to be that Dad would take care of the baby all night so she could enjoy herself and get some sleep, but it didn't quite work out that way (sort of reminds me of my first GWO after Grace). Grace was sleepy in the car, so when we got back to the airport I put her in her crib and went and layed down with Eric. About 20 minutes later Grace decided she'd slept long enough, so I started to get up to go get her. Then, Eric told me stay in bed, he'd take care of her and I could go back to sleep! I slept for 2 hours. We missed church, but we did go to our church softball game later that afternoon.

So, it was basically a good weekend, but I'll have to remember. Next time we have a GWO in a home city where you have access to the baby, make sure Dad gets her for more than just dinner. It's supposed to be Mom's weekend out, not Dad's.

Pictures

Happy Fourth of July!



Go to Flickr to see more.

Happy Fourth of July

We had a very busy, yet very nice 4th of July holiday. I was fortunate that our office closed both Friday and Monday for the holiday. Eric had to work on Friday, so I sent Grace to day-care and got some extra sleep for me. I also did a few chores around the house and then picked Grace up after lunch. I let her take a quick nap at home and then we went to JC Penney to have her 6 month pictures done. She was so funny and of course wouldn’t smile at the right times, but we did get a couple of good shots and overall it went well. Samara and Ava came out to the mall too and we did a little shopping. Towards the end of shopping we decided to see if the Dad’s wanted to come meet us for dinner. We went to Champps. Both the girls were ready for their dinners. I went inside with the guys and fed Grace at the table, but Samara stayed in the car to feed Ava. About the time our food arrived (Will had ordered for Samara) we realized her car was gone and both Will and I checked our phones and saw that she had tried to call us. It must have been too loud to hear them ring. Ava decided she wasn’t ready for her first dinner in public, so the only option Samara could think of was to take her home. We felt bad that we missed her and couldn’t do anything to help. After dinner, Will went home, but Eric and I headed over to a friend’s son’s Little League game. After the game we stayed and watched the downtown fireworks from afar. We weren’t really close enough for them to be loud, so Grace slept in her stroller through most of the evening.

Saturday we had a kind of lazy morning, but went to the airport to pick up my parents just after noon. We then stopped and got some lunch before heading home. We put Grace down for a nap and then Mom and I planned out our meals for the weekend and headed to the super Wal-Mart. The guys seemed to think we were gone too long, but we had fun shopping (without Grace!). We brought home some deli chicken and then just hung out at home.

Sunday was a really busy day. We got up and went to church. After church we came home and had some sandwiches and fed Grace. Then we spent the entire afternoon at the zoo! It was lots of fun and Grace was well-behaved, but it was HOT! By the time we finished we were all beat and ready to relax. We had dinner at Applebee’s and then headed home. Grace played for a while and has almost figured out how to crawl. She’s getting really frustrated because she wants to move, but just hasn’t figured out how yet. We put her to bed and then watched a movie.

Monday we got up and had a late breakfast at First Watch and then went to Best Buy. For once we didn’t do too bad. We bought some CD-R’s and a 3-pack of DVD’s for $20. After Best Buy we were a little tired and Grace was starting to fuss, so we went home and Grace and I took a nap. We just hung out in the afternoon and everyone else seemed to sneak a nap in too. We decided to grill steaks out for dinner and then around 7:30 p.m. headed over to some church friends house to hang out before walking over to a park for fireworks. The fireworks didn’t start until almost 10 p.m. and amazingly Grace was still awake. She cried a couple of times during the fireworks, but when she realized I was right beside her, she was fine. Watching the fireworks with her was so amazing. We were laying on a blanket on the ground looking up at the sky. She just stared and watched the whole thing, but her little hand was holding onto my finger the whole time. This time when I watched them I tried to see it from her point of view. Staring into the night sky watching these beautiful colors and shapes. No wonder she was amazed. It was so special to hold her and get to witness it through her eyes. She fell asleep during the walk back to the car and we put her straight to bed when we got home.

My parents left this morning and unfortunately we’re back to work. I’m looking forward to that vacation coming up. I’ll upload some pictures into Flicker tonight for your viewing pleasure. We have a lot of them!

Bummed

Today was the end of one of my best friend's 25th cycle trying to get pregnant. This month we really thought things looked good. It was her first month on Clomid and she had excellent timing and fantastic progesterone levels. We don't know why things aren't working for her, but they just aren't.

My heart breaks for her. I have no idea what it must be like to face that disappointment month after month. Especially when her friends and family all keep getting pregnant and then having babies around her. She's so strong and never lets you see that it maybe hurts to see you with your baby, but I know it has to make her heart ache.

I wish there was something I could do to help her finally get pregnant, but there's nothing any of us can do. All I can do is pray. Pray that she will finally get pregnant, pray that God will keep her strong, pray that she will continue to handle whatever is thrown her way. If you believe, maybe you could pray too?

FYI

I can't remember if I mentioned that I have decided to stop taking the pill. I had a mishap re-ordering through the mail this month, so I've been off this month and I noticed that I feel much better without the chemicals. Since we will might begin trying again in as few as 9 months, Eric and I have decided to use other forms of birth control. I'm not sure how much we will be relying on it for actual birth control, but I'm going to be charting my cycles again. I like knowing what's going on with my body anyway. So, just in case you are browsing through my side bar items and see that I'm charting again, I'm not on a secret mission to get pregnant. I'm actually trying not to get that way...yet.

Random Ramblings

I haven't updated much lately about the regular goings on of life. I feel like we've been busy, but I can't really think of anything specific going on.

I do know we've got alot planned for the near future. This weekend for the 4th my parents are coming to visit. I don't have much planned except for Fireworks on Monday. Luckily they don't really need to be entertained, they just want to see us. Friday will be the 6th anniversary of my engagement. Here's the story, just in case you are curious.

In between my Junior and Senior year of college I had an internship in Chicago for the summer. I only had a few weekends I was going to see Eric and because of the way it fell, we got a long weekend for the 4th, so I went home. My extended family always has this big 4th of July cookout. It's just alot of fun and our family is really welcoming, so lots of times in-laws come too. We invited Eric's Mom to come too. That Saturday morning Eric and his Mom showed up at my house. I was so excited to see him, since I hadn't seen him in about a month. We went to the party and after everyone had finished eating, Eric got everyone's attention. I don't remember the exact words, but his proposal went something like this, "While Jennifer has been away it's made me realize just how special she is and how much I love being with her. It's kind of ironic that as we are celebrating Independence Day, I want to commit my life to the woman I love." He then got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and said, "Jennifer, will you marry me?" Of course I said yes. The really cool thing is that my parents knew he was going to do it, so they brought their video camera and have the whole proposal on tape. They even played it at our wedding.

So after that random story, here's the rest of my upcoming plans. The weekend of July 9th, I have another GWO. As always, I'm really excited. This one will be at Samara's and imagining a big slumber party. I'm bringing Grace, so it'll be the girls and babies! Samara and I went shopping last weekend, so she's had a trial run at leaving the house for an extended period of time with the baby. I think there will be enough extra hands to help out!

Then I have a weekend off, but Eric and I are taking vacation at the same time July 18-23. We are going to go to Chicago with Grace and stay with Danialle Thursday through Sunday of that week (I'll send you my flight plans, Danialle :)

Then the last weekend of July, I'm heading back to Indiana (not sure if Eric can come with me), but one of my old highschool friends is having a baby shower on the 30th and then my cousin is getting married on the 31st.

Not sure what we're doing in August yet, but time just keeps flying by. Well, I'm sort of putting off packing. I have a business trip tomorrow and am staying overnight, so I need to get my bag packed. Imagine that, I only tend to blog when I'm procrastinating!

Oh, and one more thing...send a prayer out for my friend Erica. This month looks really promising and we'd really, really like for her to finally get that positive pregnancy test. Two years is long enough to wait, don't you think?

6 Month Dr's Appointment

We had Grace's 6 month check up on Thursday last week. It went pretty well and was fairly quick since I didn't have too many questions.

Stats: 18 pounds, 3 ounces (90th percentile) and 26 inches long (50th percentile). Her head circ. was average too. She appears to be reaching all developmental milestones and the doctor said it looks like one of her teeth is "close" to coming in.

I asked about feeding, as I think that she's ready for Stage 2 foods. Dr. H said that it sounds like we're doing the right thing as far as how much she's eating. She said it's fine to try out some Stage 2's. She said as she starts to want more, not to increase her milk intake, just add more solids, however, she should still take most of her nutrients through her bottles. Not quite ready to start a sippy cup yet, but I can give her water or juice in a bottle if I want to, but she doesn't really need it yet.

After seeing the doctor, the nurse came back and Grace got two shots. The first one seemed to surprise her and then the second one just made her mad! She stopped crying as soon as I picked her back up though, and even gave the nurse another smile before she left the room.

That was about it. I somehow had a credit on account, so I didn't have to pay the co-pay and the nurse gave us a free package of Infant Motrin and 5 sample size containers of formula, plus 8 $1-formula "checks." I think we came out ahead.

Progress Report

Today the day care sent home a progress report for Grace. I thought it was cute, so I thought I would share here.

Social/Emotional Development
Grace has a very strong personality. When she is content she laughs, coos, and smiles. When she wants or needs something she will let you know! (crying or yelling) She is very social and likes to be around others. She distinguishes Mom and Dad from others and responds happily when she sees them.

Physical Development
Grace is able to sit up on her own for a few minutes at a time. She is starting to pull herself up with her arms - She will be crawling before you know it! She reaches for and grasps objects & likes to put them in her mouth. She will stand up when held by an adult.

Language Development
Grace is making more sounds and becoming more vocal every day. She loves to hear herself laugh & listen to the sound of her own voice.

Cognitive Development
Grace is interested, aware, and attentive to her surroundings. She pays attention to what is going on around her.

And here are some pictures taken today.




Just to narrate. This was right before bed. She sleeps with the teddy bear and likes to chew on his arm. I guess taking the pacifier away didn't quite get rid of her need to suck at night.

More at Flicker.

New Pictures

Check out the Flicker link on the sidebar for some new Grace pictures. They include her playing with some toys and a couple of her first trip to the zoo on Saturday. I'll try to write more soon!

Ma-Ma

Grace is now saying "Ma-Ma." I'm not getting too excited because I know technically this isn't her first word. She is just learning to make sounds and has figured out "M", but it sure is something to hear that sound from my little one's mouth. It's so cute. She figured this one out on Friday and for some reason will only say it laying on the changing table. (Friday morning with me, Friday after work with Eric, Friday evening before bath-me, This morning-me, this afternoon at Samara's-me). I can't wait until she knows what that means!

Making Some Changes

A very good friend of mine got tired of begging for pictures and created a Flicker account for me. I've added the link to my sidebar and here it is again. I added some fairly recent pictures and I will attempt to upload them there as well. I didn't want to go too crazy, so I didn't add too many, but there are some good ones.

I also did a little updating to my sidebar. I updated Grace's weight from her last official appointment and moved around some of the blog links to the correct category and added some more that I read. Didn't mean to let this fall into such a state, but I've got other stuff going on!

Six Months Old

Grace turned six months old yesterday. I can't believe a half of a year has gone by since she was born. Time goes so fast. I am so in love with her now. I really can't describe how much that love grows. It doesn't seem possible that I could love her any more than I do right now, but I have a feeling I will. She is developing such a personality. She's so happy. She rarely fusses. When she does, she's usually hungry or tired or you just took a toy away from her, but she can always be calmed relatively fast. I think she's hit a growth spurt recently. She goes to the doctor next week, but I think we're probably in the 18-19 pound range. She now has solid food 3 times a day. Oatmeal or oatmeal with bananas in the morning with a bottle, a jar of fruit with her mid-day bottle, and a jar of vegetables before her evening bottle. Grace can now sit unsupported for several minutes at a time and I have a feeling she'll be crawling before we do our 7 month update. She can turn around on her belly and will find a way to get closer to toys or other things she wants to explore, usually by rolling or stretching. She will also entertain herself in an exersaucer or even with toys on the floor. She loves to bang things to hear the loud noises. She also loves interacting with people. She has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to give deep belly laughs when you act silly. Peekaboo is a new game she finds especially funny. She loves to be startled. I adore her laugh. I find life especially nice, now that we have a good routine. Grace sleeps wonderfully (thank you so much Dr. Ferber). She goes to bed without crying at all between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and sleeps until around 6:15 or 6:30 a.m. Saturday we went through her evening routine and then instead of putting her in bed, we went out to eat. She was an angel. She just watched everyone and then went straight to sleep after we got home. The waitress even commented that she was one of the best babies she'd seen.

Being a Mom is the best thing in the world. I think everyone should fill their lives with children. I honestly can't wait for more. I'm told it gets more fun when they get even older, so I can't wait to see what's in store.

Here's the milestones we've reached for 6 Months based on "What To Expect The First Year." The bold items we have reached.

By the end of the Sixth Month your baby:
...should be able to:
- keep head level with body when pulled to sitting
- say ah-goo or similar vowel-consonant combinations (Grace doesn't say "goo" hard consonants are hard for her, but she does say "na" "ma" or "da", so we'll count that)

...will probably be able to:
- bear some weight on legs when held upright
- sit without support

...may possibly be able to:
- stand holding on to someone or something (she'll stand if you hold her arms in front of her or beside her)
- Feed self a cracker (we've never given her a cracker to try)
- Object if you try to take a toy away (Oh, yeah)
- Work to get a toy out of reach
- Pass a cube or object from one hand to the other
- Look for a dropped object
- rake a raisin and pick it up in a fist(never tried a raisin, but she'll pick up a bottle cap from a bottle of water)
- Turn in the direction of a voice
- Babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da

...may even be able to:
- pull up to standing position from sitting
- get into a sitting position from stomach
Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger(she picks up her rattle with her thumb and finger from a small piece that hangs off of it)
- say mama or dada indescriminately

A Day with Friends

Today was the day I planned to go over and help Samara with baby stuff and my main goal was to let her get some rest. Well, she didn't rest as much as I would have liked, but I'd like to think I was of some help.

A little background. Samara and Ava have been having some breastfeeding issues. Despite her requests in the hospital, she didn't get to see a lactation consultant in the hospital until day 3 right before checkout. As a result they weren't getting a correct latch (although Ava was still eating), so within days Samara had some major trauma to the area and on Thursday last week rented a pump and took a couple of days off to let herself heal. Monday she made an appointment with a lactation consultant to help her out. They had a fabulous appointment, but when they got home and tried it on their own, things fell apart and they've been having problems ever since. Because it's so hard, they've been doing alot of pumping and bottle feeding. Anyway, they spend a lot of time attempting breastfeeding, pumping, or bottlefeeding.

Today I arrived to help around 9:00 a.m. They were in the middle of a feeding attempt. I sat in the nursery and chatted for the next hour while Ava dozed in between attempts at feeding. At around 10:00 a.m. Samara had me give her a bottle while she pumped. Around this time she received a call from the lactation consultant who made them an appointment for 1:30 p.m. After pumping, Samara decided to take a shower while I held Ava. After the shower we went downstairs for a little while and then decided to try to feed Ava again at around 11:15 am. (we didn't want her to be starving for the appointment). While they were attempting, I did a load of laundry and took the dog out. After about 30 minutes, Samara decided to give her a bottle. It needed to be warmed though and while it was warming, Ava got her hungry cry, so Samara attempted again on the couch. They tried for a while more while I got lunch together. I ate quickly and then got the diaper bag and changed Ava's diaper while Samara ate lunch. Then we hopped in the car and headed to the appointment. We were at the center until 3:00 p.m. It was another good appointment. I think they might just get it this time. It also made me see just how difficult breastfeeding can be even with a healthy baby. I assumed we would have been fine without Grace's cleft palate, but now I'm not so sure that it still would have been easy. After the appointment, Samara stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some feminine necessities, but as we pulled up Ava started crying. She ran in for a minute while I waited in the car, but after getting in a slow line, she decided she wasn't going to wait anymore and came back without her purchases. We hurried home because Ava was hungry! They had a successful breastfeeding experience. Yeah! And finally at 4:45 p.m. Samara got to take a nap. Ava slept the whole time too and I just held her until her Dad got home at 5:45 p.m. I left him with the baby and dinner and came home.

Ava is so sweet. I can't wait for her and Grace to meet and for her to get just a bit bigger so they can play. The next few years are going to be awesome!

Still Around

I feel much better now and my diet is going great this week. I should post about the weekend in Indiana or a variety of other things, but I should be cramming for my CPCU exam on Friday. I promise a nice post this weekend when the test is over. I'm hanging out with Samara and Ava tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have lots of stories and picks about time with someone else's newborn.

Blah

I thought I'd post this here as well as my diet blog, because I'm pretty sure I've got more readers here, and thus maybe I'll feel more held accountable.

I feel really bad about my body right now. I think it's starting to affect parts of my life. I hate walking by a mirror for the off chance I'll catch a side angle. It's affecting my "romantic" life because I never feel attractive. And unfortunately, when I feel this way, I'm indulging more in bad food rather than doing something about it. I've actually restarted my "diet" several times, but then something happens and I stop.

I know it's possible to do something about it. In 2003 I did Body-For-Life. It was great! I felt awesome. I only lost 9 pounds, but I got fit and dropped from a size 10 to a size 6. I looked great too! I did the 12 week program from February to May and kept it up for the most part until I got pregnant in July 2003. After I lost the baby, I got depressed and didn't do anything to lose the 10 pounds I gained during those 10 weeks. After that I was consumed with trying to get pregnant and by the time I got pregnant with Grace, I had gained another 5 pounds. Now, I'm still 10 pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight.

Here's my motivation. I want to look and feel better about myself. I know once I get going I'll have more energy and feel better in general. I'm running out of time. Once I get pregnant again, I can't call these 10 pounds "baby weight." It's entirely possible that I'll be pregnant again in a year or less (we're planning on starting again next spring), so I want to be sure I get back to where I want to be before that happens. I want to make it a lifestyle so Grace will be used to eating healthy. I don't want to make it hard for her to stay at a reasonable weight growing up or as an adult. Maybe if I start losing, Eric will decide to join me. Sounds like I'm motivated right?

Here's the challenge...time. I definately can find time to exercise, but it will involve either getting up early (5:30 a.m.) which I'm not great at or giving up part of my evenings after Grace is in bed (after 8 p.m.). We have DVR now, so I can't use TV as an excuse. Dinners are hard too, because Grace starts dinner (and the rest of her nighttime routine) at around 6:30 p.m. The key will be to have a plan and start dinner as soon as I get home from work, so we can eat before she does.

Tonight I'm going to plan for next week, so I can get groceries tomorrow evening. We are going to Indiana Saturday and coming back Sunday afternoon, so I won't have time to shop then. I am planning on cooking what I can (chicken, etc) on Sunday's so I'll have less prep time in the evenings. I will keep track of diet and exercise. I'll update my diet blog, but I also bought the Body-For-Life journal and will keep it up daily. It was $25, so that in itself will make me not want to quit. I don't want to waste my money, by stopping on Day 3 and not being able to use it.

So, the diet starts Monday. I'll be taking "before" pictures, weighing and measuring with updates every 4 weeks. Feel free to follow along in my diet blog if you want, but wish me luck and I'll really try to stay on track this time.

The Wait is Over

The baby is here!

Ava Emma-Lynn was born this morning 5/29/05 at 3:55 a.m. I was blessed and honored to be allowed to be present for the birth. It was the most amazing experience. I was so amazed by the sheer strength and determination Samara had. She was awesome through the whole experience. She managed contractions like a champ before her epidural, there seemed to be no end to her willpower during pushing, and she was awarded with the most perfect baby girl.

Wow. She weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 1/2 inches long. I can't wait to get back to the hospital to vist. But for now, here is one of her first pictures with Mom.



Happy Birthday Ava!

Waiting

I've been waiting all weekend for my best friend Samara's baby to be born. I know I shouldn't talk, it's tons harder on her!

Anyway, she called around 8 a.m. on Friday morning saying she thought she was in labor. She was having contractions and lost her mucus plug. I had a short day at work anyway, so we kept in touch and she wasn't heading to the hospital yet. By mid-morning they were regular and about 10 minutes apart but not painful. In the afternoon, things slowed down and we didn't end up going to the hospital.

I checked in first thing this morning and still nothing was going on. However, apparently around noon they started up again and now have become "uncomfortable." Samara's been keeping her doctor up to date and the doctor said if they established a regular pattern again she could go into the hospital to be checked. She called me around 4:00 p.m. and said the doctor gave her the go ahead to go to the hospital and get checked out. So that's where they are now. Until she's admitted to Labor & Delivery she's in the triage area and you are only allowed one person with you, so I told her to call me if they admitted her and I would head over. I tried to call her cell a little bit ago and got no answer. It's been two hours and it's killing me!

On a good note. If they send her home tonight, she is scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., so Bean should definately be here tomorrow! I'll post pictures later this weekend!

File Storage

I'm working on upgrading for more daily usage space for my pictures. That should help with them locking out. I just need to find out how what I've already paid will be applied to the upgrade.

Milestone

Tonight we had another milestone. No, the tooth hasn't came in yet. Grace objected when I took a toy away. She has a duckie bath toy that she was chewing on during her bath. When we were done washing, I took it away so I could get her out of the tub. She protested with much crying and her face turned red. Ahhh, she's getting a temper.

In other news, Samara is still very pregnant, but now has a date and time scheduled for induction. Unless nature intervenes, Bean will be here on Sunday! I can't wait!

Pictures

Here are the pictures as promised. I think I need to purchase a larger file share account as my account is getting locked up again. Keep trying back for pictures.

Here is Grace with my brother Jeremy for the first time.



This is the 4 generation picture. My Grandma, Mom, Me, and Grace.


Here is Grace almost sitting.


Just hamming it up for the camera


Trying out the new highchair

Weekend with the Family

I had a great weekend. I've got some great pictures too, but I seem to have temporarily lost my camera. I took a picture this morning so it has to be somewhere. I'm hoping Eric decided to take it to work to show off some pictures. He's not home right now to ask.

Anyway, Friday we were very effecient and left town around 5:30 p.m. We drove for an hour and then stopped for dinner for all of us. After we got back in the car Grace fell asleep for the rest of the time. We got to Grandma and Grandpa's at about 9 Indiana time. Mom, Dad and Jeremy had went out to see friends, so they weren't home yet. We let Grace sleep in the car seat while we brought everything in and settled in. The rest of the family got in a little while later. Mom immediately got Grace out of the carseat and woke her up. She was in a great mood though. Jeremy wanted to hold her right away and I got a good picture of them together. Grace stayed up for about an hour, but then she had a bottle and we put her in the pack-n-play. She fell asleep with no crying.

Maybe it was the extra hour she was up, but she slept until 6:15 Indiana time. We got up and hung out for a little while until we left for the Bridal Shower. The shower was very nice. We got to eat Mexican (yum) and Melissa got lots of nice gifts. She looked so happy. I'm very happy for her and hope I can make it to the wedding at the end of July. We also got a very nice 4 generation picture with my Mom and Grandma. After the shower we stopped by an old friend from church's house. She wanted to see Grace in person. During this visit, I was distracted by a phone call from my friend Meg at work. She had a baby boy! After the visit, we stopped by the grocery store to get supplies for dinner. Then we went home and Grace napped while we made a couple of dishes for dinner. Later that evening we had a family dinner. My aunt, uncle and 2 cousins from Illinois came over, another uncle, another cousin, my pregnant cousin (37 weeks), her husband, and nephew. One of my other cousins had twin boys on Friday, so it was a weekend of babies (but not Samara's yet). We stuck to our bedtime routine and after a bath and story, she again went to bed with no crying. She did wake a couple times in the early morning hours though.

Jeremy seems to be doing well. He had a long slide show of pictures from Iraq. It's a little weird to see pictures of my baby brother with a big gun, but I think he's really proud of what he's doing. I don't think I've ever really accepted the fact that he's grown up too, but this weekend it struck me that he's a man now. It was strange to me that he was so interested in Grace, because I guess I thought he wasn't much of a kid person. He's an uncle though. Uncles have a special role. It will be his job to tease her and make her laugh and be the silly guy that doesn't enforce rules like eat your vegetables and no candy before dinner. I think that really means something to him. I hope they can spend more time together when he gets back.

Sunday we got up early (thanks Grace) and after a 5:30 a.m. feeding Grace and I took an hour nap. Then we got up and visited while the rest of the family got ready for church. They left for church, we fed Grace and hit the road.

Sunday afternoon, I met up with Samara at Babies R Us. She is really ready for Bean to just get here already. She walked and played with Grace and I shopped! Grace got a new high chair (I have a picture) and some new sleepers and a big girl toy giraffe. Then an exciting thing happened Grace's gums started to bleed. Now I feel bad that she was bleeding, but this means a tooth should be here anytime! I keep checking, but nothing yet.

I'll post pictures later (assuming my camera isn't permanently missing).

Awesome Day at Work

I had a great day today. This morning I had a meeting with our Office Head and discussed my concerns about not getting a promotion when officer positions were handed out this year and we discussed where I see myself on a 5 year career path. I think it's good for him to know.

Then this afternoon I made an incredible deal which will probably save my client about $200,000 over the premiums we presented to them on Monday! Yeah! They will like this revision!

Ear Infections #3 & #4

Grace wants to help with this one. Here is her contribution...

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Anyway, she went back to the doctor today because her cough from 2 weeks ago stopped getting better when her amoxicillan for her ear infection #2 ran out and is now getting worse again. Apparently she now has a double ear infection. They are trying a different medication. I'm thinking they may not wait another 6 months for tubes in her ears if this keeps up.

Well, I've pushed my luck. Grace is ready for dinner. Got to go.

Date Weekend

This weekend, Eric and I celebrated our 4th anniversary (technically it was Thursday, but we celebrated on Saturday). Friday evening Eric's mom came in from Indiana. She got in about 6:30 p.m. and got to observe our night time routine with Grace. We ordered pizza for dinner and caught up on some of the TV shows we TiVo'd this week.

Saturday morning Grace woke up at about 6:15 a.m. I didn't want to get her up until 6:30, so I turned the monitor down, and set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. When it went off, Grace had already fallen back to sleep, so I turned the monitor back up and went back to sleep until she woke up again at about 7:15 a.m. We got up and had breakfast. I showed Donna how to do her cereal and bottle, and then I let Grace play with Nana and I went back to sleep until about 9:45 a.m. (Thank you!). Eric and I both got up and Grace was taking a nap downstairs. I went to the grocery store, since we were completely out of food. When I got back, we showered, dressed, packed and left the house around 12:30 p.m.

We decided to spend the day downtown. We went to the mall first. Eric was in the mood to shop, so first we stopped by Victoria's Secret. I had a bra fitting, since I haven't been fitted after the baby. I am now a 36D. Wow! I sort of hope that stays that way even if I lose the rest of this baby weight. Then we went to Kaufmann's to look for some clothes for Eric. He purposely didn't pack any nice clothes, so he would be forced to buy something for dinner. They had a nice Men's section and were having a sale on dress clothes. Eric ended up buying 3 nice pairs of slacks, and 3 dress shirts, and a belt for about $350. I don't think he's ever spent that much on clothes. (He just got a bonus at work though, so thankfully it didn't come directly out of the budget). After all that shopping, Eric was ready to get out of the mall.

We walked back to the car (I parked at work, so we wouldn't have to pay) about 3 blocks and realized it was getting very windy and looked like rain. We picked up our suitcase and walked the block and 1/2 to the hotel. We checked in and hung out for a little while. I took a bath and shaved my legs, ironed one of Eric's new shirts and we both got dressed.

We had dinner at a new Italian place called Due Amici. It's very modern on the inside and has very yummy food. It was only about 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel, but it had started raining, so we took a cab. Dinner was very, very yummy, but didn't take us hardly any time. We had a 5:00 p.m. reservation and were out by 6:15 p.m. We got another cab and headed to the "Arena District" to a trendy bar/restaurant to pass about an hour until our evening plans began.

At about 7:30 p.m. we got another cab and headed to the Palace Theater to see Kevin James (from the King of Queens) in his stand-up act. It was very funny. Even his opener was good. The show lasted until about 10:00 p.m. and then we headed back to the hotel.

Probably the best part for me was sleeping in. Although, I woke up around 8 a.m., I kept making myself go back to sleep until we decided to get up around 9:30 a.m. We packed up and headed back to the house. We visited with Donna when we got back and she left around 11 a.m. Grace had been up since 6:30 a.m., so I put her down for a nap. She only slept about 20 minutes, so then I brought her into my room and napped with her until about 1:45 p.m. She got up had another bottle and then we got ready for the softball game.

Eric and I play on a church softball team and today was our first game. Overall it went pretty well. I started playing Shortstop and then moved to catcher (I tried not to take it personally, it has been 7 years since I've put on a glove). You have to have 5 girls on the team, so we had to recruit a girl off of another team (she took my place at shortstop) and we all got to play the whole time. I did get on base twice and scored one run. We had a great last inning (needed 2 to tie and 3 to pull ahead), we scored 5! They came back and scored 2, but we still won! Now I just thought I'd update and in 10 minutes, we'll start watching the Survivor season finale. Then back to work.

Update on Me

I'm so far behind on posting about me that I feel like I'm probably missing really important stuff. I'd really like to post about my fantastic weekend, but there have been a couple of other things happen in the recent past that I really should at least mention.

1. My brother is in the US! That's right, he has a 2 week leave and made a surprise visit and arrived in Iowa at my parents house on Tuesday last week. Yes, that's right, just two days after my little family left. Apparently he really tried to make it back before we left, but things just didn't work out. The good news, is that my parents were planning on heading to Indiana next weekend (5/21) to go to my cousins' bridal shower, so if I make it to the shower I'll get to see him and he can meet Grace. Notice I said "if I make it." That brings me to item 2.

2. My best friend is about to have her baby! I'm so excited I could pop! I've been super busy this week, so I haven't talked to her (via phone) for a while, I'll address that in number 3, but I do know that while she didn't dialate any more at her last appointment, the baby has dropped and is at 0 station. Grace didn't drop until after my water broke. I was still between -1 and -2 at my last appointment. As the plan currently stands, I will be allowed in the delivery room for the birth of little "Bean." I can't wait to see if it's a boy or girl and just meet this tiny little person. The only birth I've ever witnessed was Grace's and I can only imagine the experience from this other angle. I've promised to let Will be the one to announce the sex, and I will respect her privacy and stay in her head region. I'm so excited to get the call, although #3 better not interfere.

3. So very, very busy. Work has been killing me. I really think thanks will slow down after my June 1, renewal is wrapped up, but in the mean time I've been slammed. I've been bringing work home most nights, because Eric needs me not to work late all the time, and I did stay at the office until 9:00 p.m. one night last week. My desk is covered in items I've been neglecting and I'm so far behind I really hope I'm right and June will give me time to catch up. I'm sort of over the idea of finding a new job. While some parts of it sound attractive, I also think that where am at, may possibly be the best place right now. However, I do have another "conversation" scheduled with a different company on Thursday, so we'll see what they have to say. I also scheduled a meeting with our head of office to discuss some of my concerns regarding my position in my own company. I wasn't offered a promotion this year, which wouldn't bother me so much if one wasn't given to one of my collegues and I think I'm at least as deserving as her. I think there are alot of office politics and I want to see if there is anything I can do to get around it. Also next week, I have my big renewal presentation on Monday in front of the client CFO and President of North American operations. I have another client meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning (with a client I have never met personnally), and a couple of underwriter meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. So this schedule, plus the option of getting to see my brother this weekend, makes me really hope that baby bean will stay inside one more week. Please!

4. One of my other best friends had a very eventful week too. I'm really, really hoping that the lap cleared things up enough that very soon, she'll be expecting too. Two years is way too long to wait and I just want this to happen before she has to start trying more complicated procedures.

Well, all of this and still no weekend update. Baby is crying (she's bored) and I have to get ready for a softball game, so I'll try to update again tonight.

Five Month Milestones

This week Grace turned 5 months old. Probably the most important development this month was that she now sleeps all night. Dr. Ferber is wonderful. Grace goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30 a.m. It's given me my sanity back. We also started solids this month. She eats cereal in the mornings and does very well with that. In the evenings we have been trying out a variety of jar baby foods. Some she likes better than others. At this point she does very well if she eats a half of a jar of any item, usually it isn't that much. I think we're getting closer on sitting too. She loves to "sit" on your lap, but on the floor (without support) she stills falls forward. I keep catching her trying to pull herself forward to sitting in her carseat and bouncy seat though. I also think we may see a tooth this month. She hasn't been especially fussy, but she drools constantly (lots of drool) and everything goes in her mouth. She especially likes harder items which she rubs on her gums.

Here are the items the book says are 5 month milestones. I've bolded the items we've hit.

By the end of this month, your baby
...should be able to:
- hold head steady when upright
- on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms
- roll over (one way) (we can do both ways!)
- pay attention to a very small object
- squeal in delight
- reach for an object
- smile spontaneously
- grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers

...will probably be able to:
- bear some weight on legs
- keep head level with body when pulled to sitting
- say ah-goo or similar vowel-consonant combinations
- razz (make a wet razzing sound)

...may possible be able to:
- sit without support
- turn in the direction of a voice

...may even be able to:
- pull to standing position from sitting
- stand holding on to someone or something
- feed himself or herself a cracker
- object if you try to take a toy away
- work to get a toy out of reach
- pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other
- look for dropped object
- take a raisn and pick it up in fist
- babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma-ma, da-da-da-da

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Wow, I've been a little slow on posting. Life is just going by at such an amazing speed. Anyway, I wanted to update about the weekend.

Thursday evening we took a family trip to Iowa to visit my parents. It was Grace's first plane ride. Packing was interesting, but we got everything into 2 checked bags, plus we carried on the diaper bag and gate-checked the stroller and carseat. Our flight left at 7:10 p.m. and connected in Cincinnati. On the first leg, it was time for Grace to eat, so we gave her a bottle during boarding and take off. After she ate, she just sat and looked around and was very good. When we were getting off the plane, I put her in the sling and kept her in there while we were at the airport waiting for our connection (except for the diaper change). She fell asleep before we boarded the next flight and didn't wake up until after we landed and had to put her in the carseat to drive to my parents.

Only my Mom picked us up at the airport because my Dad had class. By the time we got home and settled it was almost 11:00 p.m. Iowa time, so we put Grace to bed in a borrowed pack-and-play. She cried for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, and just as I was about to go get her to rock her to sleep, she fell asleep and slept all night. We watched the taped Survivor episode and then went to bed.

Friday morning Grace got up just after 6 a.m. We gave her breakfast and then Mom made us waffles. Grace started getting fussy around 8:30, so we took about an hour nap and then got up and had a bottle. After the second bottle we headed out for the day. First we stopped by my Mom's office to show Grace off to her co-workers, then we went to Tulip Time (a festival in Pella). Check out pictures below. We had a nice time there, but then headed home in the afternoon. Mom made us dinner, with steak, cottage fries, salad, and rolls. We did Grace's evening routine and she went to sleep with no crying. We watched National Treasure and headed to bed.


Grace and the Tulips


Grace thinks we're at Mardi Gras


Grandma and Grandpa


The Family

Saturday was a more lazy day. We got up early with Grace and Jeremy called around 6:00 a.m. It was nice because I got to talk to him for a little while. I think he missed us a little. I can't wait until he gets to come home and we can see him and let him meet Grace. Mom made a big breakfast (Biscuits and Gravy, Bacon and Eggs). Then Mom, Grace and I just hung out while the guys went fishing. After a couple of hours, we went to watch for a little while and Grace got to see Grandpa catch a big fish.



Once the fishing was done, we let Grace take another nap while the guys showered and then we went to DesMoines for the evening. We ate at Champps and then walked around the mall for a bit. Grace got a couple new outfits (surprise!) and then we headed to Best Buy and got her a CD of silly kids songs. We listened to it on the way back and got back and put Grace to bed while the adults hung out a little while longer. Grace got a real kick out of my Astro, the family dog. He kept jumping up on my Dad's lap and she would just giggle. She thought it was hilarious. He'd get down and do it again, and apparently it never got old. He did it probably 20 times.

Saturday night was not so good for Grace's sleeping. She got up 4 times and I would rock her back to sleep. I didn't feel right letting her cry at their place. Around 4 a.m. my Dad got up and volunteered to hang out with her if she got up again and let me get some sleep. I gladly accepted. Mom fed her around 7:00 a.m. and I decided we needed to get up and pack. We left for the airport around 8, got there at 9, and our flight left at 10:30. They wouldn't let us use the sling on the plane on the way back, but Grace still fell asleep on the flight and it was fairly peaceful. We were delayed for an hour in Cincinnati, but made it home by 3:30 p.m.

Grace and I took a quick nap and I fed her and then we decided to go out to eat for Mother's Day. We went to Texas Roadhouse and got in within a reasonable amount of time. After dinner, I came home and went through Grace's evening routine and Eric went to the store to get me a Mother's Day card. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and relaxing.

Grace at 4 1/2 months

Things happen so fast. Two big milestomes this week.

1. Grace learned how to roll from her back to stomach. It happened for the first time on Tuesday while I was at the Toyota dealership getting my oil changed. I had a blanket on the carpet in the waiting area and she flipped right over. Now she does it like it's nothing. I haven't seen her go from front to back in a while, but I guess new things are more exciting.

2. We started solids tonight. Her first meal was Rice Cereal and it was really watered down, but she loved it! She kept getting really excited and waving her arms around and trying to grab my hand. She didn't spit much out either, so I count it a success. Here's a picture.


She's looked surprised all day. We stuck a bow in her hair and got this picture.


And for your viewing pleasure, check out Grace in her new shades.

GWO 8

I have just returned from my first post Grace GWO away from home. Boy did I miss her. However, it was a wonderful weekend.

Thursday evening Samara and I hit the road just after 6 p.m. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a headache, but I suffered through and we made to Erica's at about 9:30 p.m. Indiana time. We watched Survivor that Erica TiVo'd as we do every year at Erica's house. We didn't stay up too late. Since Samara is 8 months pregnant, Erica and Eric gave up their bed and I shared it with her, so I slept awesome all weekend.

Friday morning we got up at a reasonable town and went out to breakfast. We decided to stay in our PJs and went to Target shopping. I got Grace a couple of 9-12 month outfits that were on sale. We had lunch at Moe's which is a up-scale fast food Mexican place. After that we went to the pottery painting place. That's one of my favorite activities. After pottery we headed back to the house to shower and get ready for dinner. We dressed up a bit and had Italian at La Scala. Very yummy. After dinner we went home and just hung out until bedtime.



Saturday we got up and again had breakfast out. We came home for a little while and then headed to the mall for a couple of hours. Again, Grace got a couple of outfits on sale. For dinner on Saturday, we cooked at home and it was awesome! We've decided that we think it will become a new tradition. Saturday evening was full of just visiting, and after dinner we watched some exercise videos and realized we need to work on that in the future (at least I did).

Today we got up early and headed home. We made great time and got back into Columbus at around 11:30 a.m. Grace missed me, so I spent most of the day holding her. I swear she grew up while I was gone. For the most part she was good for Eric, but I think she missed me and today has sort of been acting like she doesn't feel good. I think she may be teething. Her cheeks are all red and hot and she's drooling tons, plus she's been a bit fussy. More update on her in a minute.

Day 2 - The Sleep Project

Friday night we started the sleeping project. I bought Dr. Ferber's book "Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems." It's probably a good one to have. I just needed the Chapter on Sleep Associations, but it also talks about bedwetting, sleepwalking, nightmares, etc. Anyway, after doing the reading we have decided that the main reason Grace is having trouble sleeping is because of her pacifier. She uses it to go to sleep, but if it falls out in the middle of the night, she can't use it to go back to sleep so she cries and we have to help her. The only solution, since she can't keep it in her mouth all night is to teach her to sleep without the pacifier. So far we're only doing this at night and luckily she doesn't use the pacifier during the day unless she's sleepy, so I think once we break her of it at night, day will be pretty easy and then we won't run the risk of having a 2 year old that walks around with a pacifier in her mouth constantly.

Anyway, I followed the doctors advice and fed Grace around 7:30 p.m. after a bath. We put her down at about 7:45 p.m. and she fell asleep by 8:00. This was before I figured out we couldn't use the pacifier though, and I sat in her room until she fell asleep. Then as I continued to read, I figured out what I did wrong. She gave us a chance to correct it at about 8:30 p.m. when she woke up. Dr. Ferber suggests using a progressive waiting technique. The first night you wait 5 minutes, go check on the baby briefly (2 to 3 minutes max) and then leave while the baby is still awake. You then wait 10 minutes and check again, then 15 minutes, and then 15 minutes every additional time. If they wake again during the night, you start back at 5 and repeat until morning. Since we didn't give her the pacifier, it took Grace 45 minutes of crying to fall back asleep. She then woke up another 3 times during the night, but each time fell asleep in under 10 minutes (I did go check on her a couple of times, but never twice in the same waking). She woke up a 4th time at 4:20 a.m. and didn't fall back to sleep. I got up at 5:30 a.m. and started our day. Eric let me nap later Saturday morning.

Night 2 - Saturday night. I spent all afternoon on Saturday out shopping with Grace and Samara. I fed Grace at a little after 3 p.m., but she fell asleep while we were out and missed her 6:00 feeding. I got home just after 7:00 and held Grace off until I could quickly eat some Wendy's. Then I decided to feed her at about 7:15. She was hungry! She ate just over 7 ounces. Then we went upstairs, took a bath, got into her pj's. Daddy read her 3 stories and we looked at her pictures of Grandma's, Grandpa's and aunts and uncles. We layed her down at 8:15 p.m. and left the room. She cried. Day 2 progressive waiting times increase by 5 minutes. 10 minutes for the first wait, then 15, then 20. She fell asleep at 9:17 p.m. I left Eric with the monitor and went to bed at about 11:30 p.m. Eric came to bed at 2:30 a.m. and said she hadn't woke up yet. At around 4:00 a.m. I woke up and checked the volume setting on the monitor. At 5:30 a.m. I started wondering if she was breathing. I held off until 5:45 a.m., but then I quietly sneaked into her room and made sure she was still breathing. Yep, just asleep. I went back to bed and we heard the first cry at 6:10 a.m. Eric told me to wait 5 minutes. I did and she stopped crying after 1. At about 6:15 she started making awake happy noises. I got up to get her and was greeted with a smiling well rested baby that just slept through the night!

I'm not saying we're completely done with the night wakings, but I have a feeling we're pretty close. Yeah! Finally, some sleep. Ok, I need to finish getting us ready for church now.

4 Month Doctor's Appointment

Grace's doctors appointment yesterday went very well. She got her second round of shots, although she didn't like that very much at all. She calmed right down as soon as I picked her up afterwards though, until she got a glimpse of the nurse, and that bottom lip stuck right back out.

Back to the beginning. She weighed in at 15 pounds 13 ounces (90th percentile). I thought she'd hit 16, but apparently my scale at home rounds up (or her diaper weighs a few ounces). I don't weigh her naked at home. She is now 24 1/2 inches long (just above average).

I had a lot of questions this time. I started off asking about our sleep issues. I told the doctor our normal schedule, including that she sleeps with me after waking, and that I haven't been feeding her at night. She thought it was good that Grace goes to sleep without being rocked, held, or while taking a bottle, but she thought the fact that she usually falls asleep on the couch with us rather than her crib is a problem. She isn't used to going to sleep in her crib, so at night when she wakes up, she doesn't want to go back to sleep in her crib. She told me to change up our evening feeding schedule, so she eats just before bedtime around 7:30 or 8:00, so when she's done we can just put her straight to bed. We're eliminating the 9:30 p.m. bottle. I'm not sure exactly how we're going to do it. I think she may need to start eating more at other meals or something, because it will be hard to get an extra bottle squeezed in during the day. We've also been given the go-ahead to start trying to get her to sleep in her bed (including a little crying). We've decided to start tonight. No more sleeping with Mommy. I've bought Dr. Ferber's book and haven't read it yet, but we're going to "Ferberize" her. According to the book it should work in less than a week. We'll see.

Next I asked about starting cereal. Dr. H thinks Grace is "thriving" on formula and is eating just about what she should at this time, so she's in no rush to start it. However, she thinks we'll need to before her 6 month appointment. We're supposed to watch for cues like eating more frequently or larger amounts at a time. She currently eats between 30 and 36 ounces a day. If she gets up to 40 or so, it'll be time for cereal.

We asked about the flat spot. It's normal and shouldn't get much worse now that's she's sitting up more and is generally more active. We're supposed to keep her from spending too much time on her back while awake by using a swing, bouncer, jumper, etc.

A couple of weeks ago we saw a weird spot under Grace's tounge. It almost looked like a hole. She already has a big enough hole in her mouth, so we didn't want anymore. There isn't one. It was just the bottom of her mouth, but looked like a hole because of the position of her saliva glands.

Grace has a couple of dry spots on her tummy. They are just dry skin and should get better with the weather. They don't irritate her, so no worries.

I can't think of anything else, but it was a very good visit. I'll have to update after our weekend sleep project. Wish us luck!

Four Months Old

Yesterday, Grace turned four months old. I'll give you a good update after her Doctor's appointment tomorrow, but for now here is what "What to Expect the First Year" says she may be doing by the end of the fourth month. I've bolded milestones we've reached.

By the end of this month, your baby
...should be able to:
- on stomach, lift head 90 degrees
- laugh out loud
- follow an object in an arc about 6 inches above teh face for 180 degrees

...will probably be able to:
- hold head steady when upright
- on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms
- roll over (one way)
- grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers
- pay attention to a very small object
- reach for an object
- squeal in delight

...may possible be able to:
-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting
- turn in the direction of a voice, particularly mommy's
- say ah-goo or similar vowel-consonant combinations
- razz (make a wet razzing sound)

...may even be able to:
bear some weight on legs when held upright
- sit without support
- object if you try to take a toy away
- turn in the direction of a voice

I think she's doing great! We're definately hitting all the important milestones. We'll see what Dr. H says tomorrow!

Baby Jeckle and Hyde

We had a wonderful weekend. I got a small dose of the refreshment I get by spending time with my best friends, but it was of course way too short.

Friday I took the day off work and spent it with Grace. I didn't get near as much done as I wanted too, but I did finish the laundry, take Grace by my office to see everyone, find the last ingredients for my shower foods at the organic market, make a cheeseball, and bake the crust for my fruit pizza. I didn't finish the Baby Bingo boards though, so when Erica arrived just after 8:00, we had to go finish them. Grace decided she wasn't going to sleep, so we fought with her a bit. Finally she went to bed around 10:30 p.m. and we followed shortly thereafter.

Saturday was the perfect day. Grace slept until 5:30 a.m. (in her crib) and then when she woke up I kept her in my bed until 7:30 a.m.! Then we got up, had a bottle, showered, dressed and went to pick Danialle up at the airport. We had a little free time for her to play with Grace, and we made the rest of the fruit pizza. We were supposed to be at the shower at noon to help finish the set-up, but we weren't sure how long it would take to get there and we wanted some lunch so we left early. We also got there at about 11:40 and had time to kill. Grace took a little nap before the guests arrived and Samara decided to wake her up. The shower was lots of fun and Grace was an angel. She smiled and played with everyone, ate her lunch quietly, and when she started rubbing her eyes and I could tell she was tired, she went right to sleep on a blanket on the couch. It was perfect. After the shower, Erica had to head home :( Danialle, Grace, and I crashed on the couch for a quick catnap. Then we got up and went to Champps for dinner with Eric, Will, Samara, her sister, brother, and girlfriend. Grace was still perfect. She got hungry after our appetizers and finished her bottle before the main dishes came. Other than that she sat in her carseat, flirted with Danialle, and played with her rattle. After we got home, she took a bath, had a nightcap, and went right to bed. Saturday was the most well-behaved I'd ever seen her.

Sunday, on the other hand, made up for it. She cried pretty much all day. Maybe her tummy hurt or something, but she started crying on the way back from dropping Danialle at the airport, and pretty much kept it up the rest of the day and evening. She'd stop when you held her or when she was eating, but that was about it. She also spit up on me about 5 times though, so maybe she didn't feel well. I was about at my wits end last night when we couldn't get her to sleep before her 9:30 bottle. Finally, she just cried herself to sleep. Wow. What a weekend.

It's Me Again

This week has finally started to settle a bit at work. I've still been busy, but I don't feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

I decided to take today (Friday) off of work, because we've got a busy weekend coming up. I kept Grace home today and it's been nice so far. We got up for our 6:00 bottle, then after the bottle I took a shower while Grace played. Then we went back to bed around 7:30 and slept until 9. She took a bottle at 9 and we've been playing and doing chores this morning. After the noon bottle we're leaving the house. I'm going to take her by my office to see the people and we're going to the store to get some ingredients for a couple of items I'm taking to Samara's shower. I'd also like to stop by the vet to get some cat food and maybe get my car washed.

Tonight I'm going to make the food I'm in charge of for the shower. Erica is coming in around 8:30 or 9:00 for the night. Tomorrow morning we'll pick Danialle up at the airport and then we're due at the shower around noon. I'm expecting that to be a great time. Saturday afternoon, Erica has to head home, but Danialle isn't leaving until Sunday morning. We'll go out to dinner and probably just hang out.

I've got alot on the calendar for next week. One all day meeting and some training for work. Grace will have her 4 month doctors appointment which I will try to do a really good update on, and one other thing which I can't really discuss here. Depending on what happens with that, I'll bring it up when it can be "officially" public.

GWO is coming up fast and I'm preparing my wallet to buy my skinny girlfriend's dinner. I can't wait to have a whole weekend just to hang out. For Eric's sake, I hope Grace starts sleeping by then. I'm really hoping we'll get some direction at the doctor's for that. We've stopped feeding her overnight, but she still wakes up and comes to bed with me. I'm ready to stop that, but it will probably mean letting Grace cry. Eric's getting a little tired of the couch.

Ok, I've got a couple more things to do before we go out for our errands, so I better go.

Time...It Goes So Fast

Sometimes I feel like time is just slipping through my fingers. I feel guilty about not updating here more often (remember I've been incredibly busy), but when I get a chance to update, I feel guilty for leaving my daughter.

She is amazing. I never could have really imagined the joy that she brings me. While it took a little while, I'm finally coming into my own and getting comfortable with the title "Mom."

A quick developmental update.
- I think she weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 pounds right now.
- She's already getting close to outgrowing some of her 3-6 month clothes.
- We're in Size 2 diapers with Size 3's waiting in the closet (starting at 16 pounds).
- The rolling wasn't a fluke as she'll do it pretty quickly during tummy time.
- Sometimes she acts like she's trying to roll over the other way, but we haven't quite got there yet.
- She's started being "happy" when she wakes up. Even at 3 a.m. she'll lay in bed and talk and coo for 15 minutes or so before crying for you to come and get her (sometimes she'll even fall back asleep).
- Today after her nap I came into the room to find her with her feet in her hands.
- We're still not sleeping all night, but going back to bed with Mommy and a pacifier can delay the bottle until 6 a.m. or later.
- Grace is getting a slightly flat spot on the back of her head that drives her Dad crazy. He's convinced she's going to be permanantly damaged and he does everything he can to get her to turn her head the other way when on her back.
- She grabs everything she can get her hands on and has just recently started putting things in her mouth.
- We pull her to a sitting position often and have just started to pull her to standing. When we do that she puts weight on her little legs and gets a huge smile on her face.

Here are a couple of my favorite things about this stage.
- Grace's big smile when I talk to her.
- The way her Daddy makes her laugh.
- Her soft hair on my cheek.
- Grace's big eyes and her "serious face."
- The way she rolls onto her side to cuddle with me when we sleep together.
- We can't go out in public without someone commenting on how cute she is.

It's crazy how fast she's growing up. I love it, of course. I wasn't all that great at the newborn stage, but at the same time, I'm slightly afraid that I'll miss something or forget. It also makes me sad that my parents can't see it all. We're flying out to see them in a month, but I can't imagine what she'll be doing then. She'll be fun to play with I'm sure, but they are missing the stuff she's learning about now. I probably shouldn't even be writing this (Don't cry Mom!). I guess I just miss them too.

Ok, I hear Grace crying upstairs, so maybe I should check on Eric and see if they are doing alright. I'll see if I can do a better job at posting this week. Work should slow down a bit. This weekend I get to see the girls for Samara's baby shower. I can't wait!